Daily Business Report: Thursday, July 22, 2021
Family-owned Marine Group Boat Works launches
welding training program to beef up skilled trade
Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a full-service family-owned boatyard, has launched an in-house welding training program and has purchased modern variable air compressors to station throughout its facilities after being awarded a matching grant of $524,058 from the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Assistance to Small Shipyards Grant Program.
“There has been a shortage of qualified, skilled welders in the maritime industry, but it has been at its worst during this pandemic—shipyards all around the nation are competing for the same small skilled labor pool. However, by being able to launch our own inhouse welding training program, we can look within and empower our existing team with skills and certifications they can quite frankly take anywhere with them,” said Todd Roberts, president of MGBW.
Marine Group Boat Works’ largest facility is in Chula Vista. It has sister yards in National City and San Jose del Cabo.
The company employs a variety of trades necessary, ranging from welders to pipefitters to build and repair the variety of commercial, government and private vessels that they service. However, finding skilled tradesmen is a struggle in the maritime industry. With the challenge of competing against other shipyards, construction, and aerospace industries for welders, it is a challenge to find welders with the certifications for its niche projects.
According to the American Welding Society, the welding shortage will reach a deficit of 400,000 workers by 2024.
Marine Group Boat Works purchased eight welding machines and provides training for 50 percent of its new construction welders to obtain all the necessary certifications to build and repair specifically aluminum vessels. Several certifications are being offered, all of which are in accordance with ABS certifications for welding and the Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) welding certifications.
Overall, the welding training program will work to improve accuracy of weld integrity, weld continuity and speed and weld quality. The program instructor is currently MGBW’s New Construction Manager Allen Bellini who has been in the welding industry for 47 years. As San Diego City College welding professor emeritus, Bellini developed the curriculum based around aluminum welding and gas metal arc welding—certifications that will last forever if the welder keeps them updated. While MGBW trains its current employees, MGBW still looks to bring in experienced welders.
Bellini offered this advice to those who may be interested in welding, “This is an industry that is always changing. There is good money to be made in welding, but you must be diverse in your skillset. Go to trade school, keep learning, and be open to doing things outside of just welding.”
Marine Group Boat Works has also applied the MARAD grant to new variable air compressors which will increase efficiency by placing them in more locations throughout the yard. The improvements in technology will lead to a higher level of productivity for multiple operations, such as grinding, sanding and grit blasting. Due to their constant speed design and ability to provide an increased volume of compressed air, they automatically stop when not in use which eliminates the use of diesel, and is ultimately better for the environment.
These new developments provide MGBW a competitive advantage in their industry, with its success greatly benefitting the local economy. The 2015 San Diego Military Advisory Council’s report on the impacts of San Diego’s shipbuilding and repair industry determined that this industry accumulated $1.75 billion in San Diego County. According to the American Maritime Partnership, the maritime industry brings in more $3.6 billion annually and provides more than 51,450 jobs in California. The success of the maritime industry produces significant effects on the economy.
The fate of single-use plastic packaging
to be decided by voters in November 2022
CalMatters
California voters will decide the fate of single-use plastic packaging in November 2022, thanks to a measure that qualified for the ballot late Monday.
The measure would levy a one-cent tax on plastics manufacturers for each single-use packaging, container or utensil they sell in California; require them to sell 25 percent fewer of those products; and ensure that what they do sell is reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030.
It would also ban food vendors from using Styrofoam containers. The measure, which is estimated to bring in a few billion dollars of tax revenue annually, goes further than two similar proposals that died in the state Legislature in 2019 and 2020 amid fierce opposition from powerful industry groups.
Author of the measure: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego.
Other measures that have qualified for November 2022 ballot: a referendum to overturn California’s flavored tobacco ban, a measure to legalize sports gambling, and a measure to undo a state law limiting damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Fabric8Labs raises $19 million to commercialize
new metal additive manufacturing technology
San Diego-based additive manufacturing startup Fabric8Labs announced the close of a $19.3 million Series A financing round led by Intel Capital with syndicate partners including Lam Capital, TDK Ventures, SE Ventures, imec.xpand, Stanley Ventures, and Mark Cuban.
The infusion of capital will enable Fabric8Labs to accelerate the commercialization of its novel manufacturing approach and to create new applications across multiple market verticals, including semiconductor packaging, electronics, medical, thermal management, and RF components.
“The capability to additively manufacture using multiple metals with high precision is highly compelling,” said Jennifer Ard, managing director at Intel Capital. “Fabric8Labs’ technology offers a unique option for future electronics applications.”
Fabric8Labs said its patented process rapidly fabricates complex metal parts at the atomic level, enabling superior feature resolution and enhanced material properties. “The distinct approach eliminates the need for expensive metal powders and time-consuming post-processing, and the system operates near room temperature thus minimizing total energy consumption compared to legacy products,” the company said.
Naval unit hosts mini-horses for therapy
Lt. Madeline Murphy, a native of Coronado and physical therapist assigned to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) San Diego’s Directorate for Clinical Support Services, feeds a mini-horse used for therapy in the hospital’s courtyard. Cornerstone Therapeutic Riding Center provides those in need with access to horses for therapeutic benefits.
NMRTC San Diego’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality health care services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research.
NMRTC San Diego employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians, and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere.
Brian Koshley joins Ware Malcomb
as regional director in San Diego
Brian M. Koshley has joined design firm Ware Malcomb as regional director in its San Diego office. He is responsible for the growth and overall management of the office.
As a licensed architect, Koshley brings over 35 years of industry experience to the firm. Before joining Ware Malcomb, he held various senior level roles at international design firms and focused on business development, architecture and interior architecture. Throughout his career he has managed projects across industries and specializes in adaptive reuse, building repositioning and workplace design.
Koshley has worked closely with public and private sector clients and is committed to empowering people through business intelligence-based design. Koshley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley. He is active in commercial real estate industry organizations as a member of American Institute of Architects (AIA), Urban Land Institute (ULI) and National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP).
Koshley joins the company as Principal Tiffany English departs Ware Malcomb to join longtime firm client, Qualcomm, as senior director of architecture on their Global Real Estate team.
Stacey Tyree promoted to partner at
Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson
Stacey Tyree has been promoted to partner at Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson, a commercial real estate law firm. Tyree, who joined the firm as senior counsel in 2014, will be based in the firm’s San Diego offices.
With nearly 15 years of legal experience, Tyree’s background includes leading institutional and other high-profile international and domestic clients through the acquisition, disposition, development and leasing of commercial property.
Some of her past deals include the acquisition, development and subsequent leasing of numerous offices, mixed-use and life science properties throughout California; purchase and sale transactions of hotels, retail and industrial commercial projects in various markets nationwide; and joint venture transactions in connection with portfolio acquisitions and dispositions of properties of all asset classes.
As one of CGS3’s real estate “generalists,” Tyree also has deep experience in drafting and negotiating numerous commercial contracts, including easement agreements, CC&Rs, leases, purchase and sale agreements, reciprocal easement agreements, development agreements, joint venture agreements and corporate governance documentation.
Prior to joining CGS3, Tyree practiced at Troutman Pepper LLP (previously known as Troutman Sanders).
Officers using SwabTek test kits to protect U.S. parks and wildlife
SwabTek announced that a third State Fish and Wildlife Agency has adopted its threat detection kits. the customer joins the two other Fish and Wildlife State departments and four national and state parks departments actively using the threat detection kits to help secure and protect the nation’s natural resources.
SwabTek’s tests have proven to be an effective tool for parks and wildlife officers due to their simplicity and mobility, the company said. The tests are self-contained, lightweight, and durable, making them the perfect tool to help expand the department’s enforcement capabilities for narcotics and firearms.
Park rangers and game wardens across the country are using Swabek’s narcotics tests and newly released Gunshot Residue Test Kit to protect themselves from fentanyl, protect families from narcotics traffickers and identify poachers.
Pathfinder Partners finalizes Oregon acquisition
Pathfinder Partners, a San Diego-based private equity firm specializing in multifamily real estate investments, announced the acquisition of East of Eleven Apartments in Portland, Ore. for $22.3 million. The investment was made from Pathfinder Partners Opportunity Fund VIII, L.P., raised in 2020 to make opportunistic multifamily investments resulting from the pandemic.
East of Eleven is an 84-unit, mid-rise property built in 2019. The property is in the Buckman submarket, known for its tree-lined streets, eclectic shops, and trendy bars and restaurants. While distressed because of high vacancy during the pandemic, leasing activity has accelerated during the past several months, with occupancy approaching 85 percent.
AristaMD wins sixth annual American Best in Business Award
AristaMD, a San Diego digital health company, has been presented the prestigious 2021 American Best in Business Award presented by Globee, the world’s premier business awards program. The Best in Business Awards recognize the achievements of leading companies in a variety of professional industries including health care, real estate, business and more.
With a mission to serve as a resource to health care providers and patients across the country, AristaMD’s eConsult solution enables primary care providers to collaborate electronically with a panel of board-certified specialists to proactively and cost-effectively improve access to care.
Providers using AristaMD’s eConsult platform report that over 90 percent of eConsults significantly impact their care plan and more than 70 percent of routine clinical referrals are safely and effectively addressed by eConsults. By incorporating eConsults into their practices, primary care providers expand their scope of care so that patients they are treating receive timely, convenient, and efficacious care outcomes.
MemorialCare and Physical Rehabilitation
Network acquire Complete Balance Solutions
MemorialCare, a nonprofit integrated health system based in Carlsbad, and Physical Rehabilitation Network (PRN), a physical therapy provider and practice management organization, expanded their joint support network in California with their acquisition of Complete Balance Solutions Institute for Physiotherapy Inc.
As part of a shared strategic alliance, joint venture partners MemorialCare and PRN will acquire Complete Balance Solutions’ three Southern California outpatient therapy clinics, located in Laguna Hills, Irvine and Seal Beach. Through the addition of those clinics, the MemorialCare and PRN joint venture partnership claims the region’s most expansive network of physical therapy facilities with 26 clinics throughout Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties, with plans to open additional locations by December of 2021.
“We are proudly building on our shared commitment with MemorialCare and expanding our presence in the state of California by welcoming the Complete Balance Solutions team into the PRN family,” said Ajay Gupta, CEO of PRN. “Founders [and clinic directors] Sapan Palkhiwala and Nirav Patel bring many years of experience and dedication to delivering the highest level of outcomes-based patient care. We are thrilled to have these well-respected leaders and their teams join us at PRN. And we are equally excited to begin supporting them in providing quality patient care to the local communities of Laguna Hills, Irvine and Seal Beach.”
